Tablet or pill counting machine.



No. 792,918. PATBNTED JUNE 20, 1905.

G. A. OHLENDORF & W. BROUGH. TABLET 0R PILL COUNTING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 8, 1904. RENEWED APR.13,1905.

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N0.'792.918. 1 PATENTED JUNE 20,1905. 0. A. OHLENDO'RF & W. BROUGH.

TABLET OR PILL COUNTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 3. 1904. RENEWED APR. 13,1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

g PATENTED JUNE 20, 1905. G. A. OHLENDORP & W. BROUGH. TABLET OR- PILL COUNTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 8. 1904. RENEWED APR. 13,1905.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

IN VE N TORY @fiarleaA. OizZendw-f I l ZZZ? Bro 7w 25" 1% A TTOHNE Y8 NATTED STATES Patented June 20, 1905.

PATENT FFICE.

LAND, ASSIGNORS,

BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO BURT MACHINE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

TABLET OR P|LL,COUNTENG MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 792,918, dated June 20, 1905. Application filed April 8, 190A. Renewed April 13, 1905. Serial No. 255,452.

To all whmn, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, CI-IARLEs A. OHLEN- DORF and WILLIAM BROUGH, citizens of the United States, and residents of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Tablet or Pill Counting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention is an. improvement in the class of machines adapted for counting pills and tablets and delivering them in definite numbers into bottles or other receptacles.

The leading feature of the machine is a hollow rotatable cylinder having one or more peripheral openings from which the pills or tablets are discharged as the cylinder rotates and provided with a corresponding number of interior grooves or channels forming guideways by which the pills or tablets are assembled in rows and directed to the dischargeopenings with due regularity.

The invention includes other features of construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, as hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of our improved machine, a portion of the rotatable cylinder being broken out to show interior construction. Fig. 2 is a side view of the machine, the top portion of the rotatable cylinder being in section. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail View showing a portion of the periphery of the cylinder and the retainer for the pills and tablets. Fig. 4 is a cross-section on the line L 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a perspective sectional view showing the interior of our preferred form of rotatable cylinder, together with the retaining-plate, applied to its periphery. Fig. 6 is a 'perspective view of a modified construction of cylinder.

We will first describe the invention as illustrated in Figs. .1 to 5. Upon asuitable horizontal base 1 is secured a vertical frame or pedestal 2, having at its upper end suitable bearings for a horizontal shaft 3, upon one end of which is mounted a rotatable cylinder A. The said shaft may be driven by any suitable gearing; but we show it provided with a l worm-wheel 4, which is engaged by a worm 5 on a driving-shaft 6. As shown in Fig. 1, the latter may be provided with a series of differential or cone pulleys 7, so that the speed of the cylinder may be varied by shifting the driving-belt thereon.

The cylinder is constructed as follows: The back 8 of the cylinder is a fixed metal plate having a cylindrical boss 9, which receives the shaft 3 and to which it is detachably secured by a clamp-screw 10. (See Fig. 2.) Thebody of the cylinder A is composed of a se ries of rings 11, which are similar in construction and size and secured together by crossbolts 12. The front side 8 of the cylinder is formed of a plate, preferably glass, whose central portion is cut out, as indicated in Fig. l, for the purpose of allowing convenient inspection of the interior of the cylinder. Each of the rings 11 has an interior flange 11 (see Fig. 4) of about one-third the width of its body, and, as shown in Fig. 2, when the rings are duly assembled and secured together a series of annular passage-Ways is formed. As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, each of the rings 11 is provided with a series of lateral projections 11, which are spaced equidistantly and incline at a slight angle to radii of the cylinder. It is apparent that a series of lateral passages and discharge-openings is thus formed, and by aid of an arc-shaped plate 13 these openings are converted into so many pockets adapted to receive and temporarily hold circular tablets, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The several rings 11 are cast independently, and the projections or teeth 11" are formed in this op eration, it being only necessary to subsequently dress out the openings in case the casting is sufficiently rough to require it. It is apparent that the tablets enter the pockets by the effect of gravity and that they are prevented from passing through the same by the retaining-plate 13, which has practically nearly the same breadth as the aggregate width of the several rings 11. As shown, the back plate 8 projects beyond the periphery of the several rings, so as to form an abutment and lateral guide for the retainer 13. The retainer is provided centrally (see Fig. 1) with an exterior tube or socket 14, which receives a stud 15, fixed in the base 1. A spiral spring 16 encircles said stud and by its expansion holds the retainer 13 in close frictional contact with the periphery of the cylinder A. This construction and arrangement of parts also provides for detachment of the cylinder, as will be presently more fully described. The direction of rotation of the cylinder is indicated by arrows in Fig. 1, and the point of discharge of the tablets is at m or at the lefthand end of the retainer 13. The discharge is effected by gravity, the inclination of the projections 11" being suflicient to cause the tablets to roll downward and over the end of the retainer, so that they are discharged into a trough 17, which delivers them into a bottle or other receptacle provided for the purpose. This trough is V-shaped or angular in cross-section and arranged in a plane parallel to the axis of the cylinder. In other words, the trough is practically transverse to the periphery of the cylinder. The advantage of this arrangementis that when aseries of tablets are delivered from the cylinder into the trough they fall into the latter in the same order in which they were discharged from the cylinder, and thus roll downward in the same order and are delivered individually into the bottle or other receptacle, whereas in case a funnel were employed in place of the trough the several tablets delivered at one time would converge to a common point, and the flow or passage of the same downward might become blocked. In the case of the trough arranged as described this result is impossible, and the due delivery of the tablets into the receptacle is insured. For the purpose of supporting the trough and also adjusting it in proper relation to the retainer 13 we employ a rod 18, (see Fig. 1,) having a horizontal foot 19, which is slotted and secured by a clamp-screw 20.

It will be understood that the periphery of the cylinder, formed by the assemblage of the several rings 11, as described, will be provided in practice with any required number of discharge-openings. This number may be one hundred, since that number is required for filling bottles in which tablets are commonly placed.

The tablets are placed, in the first instance, in a hopper 21, (see Fig. 1,) which is held in a suitable support 22 and provided with a discharge-tube 21. This connects with an obtuse-angled delivery-tube 23, whose lower end is in suitable proximity to the inner periphery of the cylinderAand whose upper end is slit' ted and secured to the hopper-tube by a clamp 24. By this means the discharge-tube 23 may be adjusted vertically as required to regulate the discharge of tablets in the cylinder.

It will be seen the machine shown in Figs. 1 to 5 is particularlyadapted for usein counting tablets which are of circular form, al-

though other forms may be employed. It will be further seen that the rings 11 extend inward from the periphery of the cylinder as a whole, and thus form parallel flanges whose radial width is greater than the depth of the pockets formed between them. It is apparent that by increasing or reducing the number of the rings 11, constituting the body of the cylinder A, the number of guideways and discharge-openings for the tablets may be reg ulated at will. In other words, the greater the number of the rings the greater the number of tablets which may be discharged in a given time, and vice versa.

While we have described the cylinder as composed in part of a series of rings and while it is preferred that these shall be integral, since they may be more economically produced in that form, it is to be understood that we do not restrict ourselves to an integral construction, but that the rings may be -made of a series of segments without departing from the spirit of our invention. The modified cylinder A (shown in Fig. 6) is particularly adapted for counting pills which are of spherical form. In this instance the periphery of the cylinder is constructed solid or integral instead of being made of sections, and the same is provided interiorly with aseries of parallel channels 26 and openings 25 therein for lateral discharge of the pills. A back plate 27 is seen red to said cylinder proper by means of screws and provided with a central hub or boss 27. The cylinder is also provided with two peripheral flanges, the same beinglocated at its edges and projecting radially. Between these flanges an arc-shaped plate 13, such as illustrated in Fig. 5 and before described, will be arranged on the lower side of the cylinder. When it is desired to substitute the cylinder A for the cylinder A, the discharge pipe 23 is removed and the clamp-screw 10 of the cylinder is loosened and the retainer 13 pressed downward, as shown by dotted lines, Fig. 1, so that the cylinder A may be drawn bodily forward and off the shaft 3. By a reversal of this operation the pill-counting cylinder A is substituted and duly clamped upon the shaft.

IV hat we claim is 1. In a machine for the purpose specified, the combination, with a rotary shaft, of a cylinder mounted thereon and provided with peripheral pockets having discharge-openings, and having internal parallel guideways formed by parallel flanges which are of greater radial width than the depth of the pockets formed between them, and an arc-shaped retainingplate applied to the periphery of said cylinder and serving to retain therein the tablets which are to be counted until they reach the predetermined point of discharge.

2. In a machine for the purpose specified, a rotatable cylinder having a periphery provided with a series of discharge-openings and a corresponding series of interior channels or guideways communicating with the respective openings, and a back plate provided with a tubular boss whereby it is adapted for application to and support upon a shaft in the manner described.

3. In a machine for the purpose specified, the combination, with the rotary shaft and a cylinder mounted thereon and having a series of peripheral pockets and discharge-openings, and a peripheral flange projecting on one side of the same, and a retainer for the articles to be counted, the same being arc-shaped and having a single point of support substantially as described.

4. In a machine for the purpose specified, the combination, with a rotary shaft, and a rotary cylinder having peripheral pockets and discharge-openings for the articles to be counted, of an arc-shaped retainer applied to the under side of the cylinder, and a yielding support for the same, whereby the retainer may be depressed when detachment of a cylinder is desired, substantially as described.

5. In a machine for the purpose specified, the combination, with a rotatable cylinder having a series of peripheral pockets having discharge-openings which are inclined to radii of the cylinder, and a retainer applied to the under side of the cylinder, of a trough arranged transverse to the periphery of the cylinder and in close relation thereto and inclined downward to the point of discharge, whereby articles falling into the trough roll down the same and are delivered in the order in which they were received, as described.

6. In a machine for the purpose specified, the rotatable cylinder composed of a back plate and a series of rings having internal flanges, and a series of peripheral pockets and discharge-openings formed by lateral projections of the said rings, substantially as described.

7. In a machine for the purpose specified, the improved counting-cylinder composed of a suitable backing and one or more annular portions having aninterior flange and a series of lateral projections which are separated equidistantly and inclined to radii of the cylinder thus providing inclined pockets and dischargepassages, substantially as described.

8. In a machine for the purpose specified, the combination, with a rotary shaft arranged horizontally, of a cylinder comprising a back plate having a central tubular boss adapted to be secured to the said shaft, and a series of rings having peripheral pockets and dischargeopenings, and means for securing the several rings together in proper relation, substantially as described.

CHARLES A. OHLENDORF. \VILLIAM BROUGH.

IVitnesses:

D. ARDIN GARRIGK, HY. W. STANGE. 

